Feathered festivities for January

People in Squamish really dig on eagles. Like, really dig on
them. They’ve got a proverbial backhoe in Brackendale just to make the point.

That backhoe is actually a man. It’s Thor Froslev, he of the
sterling ponytail, holder of courts at Brackendale Art Gallery (BAG), which is
the springboard for the month of eagle-related mirth, merriment and education
already underway.

With the count behind them, the 23
rd
Annual
Brackendale Winter Eagle Festival is now focusing on lectures, theatre and
music.

On Jan. 10, Ana Santos picks up the lecture leash with a talk
on salmon farming. A Squamish resident since 2004, Santos was born in Spain and
has worked as a translator for nearly 15 years. But she’s also passionate about
wildlife and the environment, and her credentials include related studies at
the University of Alaska, plus a perennial half-year of volunteering for
Wildlife Service Alaska. The other six months of her volunteer calendar see her
working with the Stream Keepers and the Squamish Environmental Conservation
Society (SECS).

She posits that B.C.’s salmon runs are in dire straits thanks
to the myopic doings of bigwigs and politicos. The connection? Eagles depend on
robust salmon runs for food.

The following night, you can take a breather from ecosystems
and enjoy a stage-based meditation on life and death. Might as well, eh?
Tuesday’s
With Morrie
is about a successful —
though unsatisfied — reporter reconnecting with an old teacher afflicted
with Lou Gehrig’s disease.

As the month continues, BAG offers more in the way of lecture
and music, with a different set of events every weekend. The whole thing
culminates in the return of Valdy and Friends Wing Ding. He’s a musician, but
you already knew that.